Management of mobile objects

ABSTRACT

To use a high-quality driving support and automatic driving system that manages a plurality of mobile objects through communication with the mobile objects to manage mobile objects that do not communicate with this system, provided is a system including a mobile object server operable to assist with movement of a plurality of mobile objects within a geographic space, wherein the mobile object server having: a monitoring section operable to monitor movement of a first mobile object that does not receive at least a portion of movement assistance and an assisting section operable to assist with movement of a second mobile object that is an assistance target, using a result obtained by monitoring the first mobile object. Also provided is a method and program product.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to a system for managing geographic spaceand mobile objects thereon.

A high-speed driving support and automobile system is known thatreceives information from a plurality of automobiles, acquiresinformation concerning accidents or obstructions on the road and mapsthis information onto a map along with the position of an automobile,and references automobile position information, automobilecharacteristic information, and driver characteristic information totransmit suitable event information to each automobile.

However, such a system has a problem that as the geographic space beinghandled expands, the number of automobiles and the number of roadsincreases, thereby increasing the amount of information being sent andreceived to a level that surpasses the processing capability of theserver. Furthermore, it is difficult to predict the actions ofautomobiles that do not communicate with this system, such asautomobiles being driven manually and automobiles managed by othersystems, and this is a cause for dangerous driving and accidents.

SUMMARY

According to a first aspect of the present invention, provided is asystem comprising a mobile object server operable to assist withmovement of a plurality of mobile objects within a geographic space,wherein the mobile object server includes: a monitoring section operableto monitor movement of a first mobile object that does not receive atleast a portion of movement assistance and an assisting section operableto assist with movement of a second mobile object that is an assistancetarget, using a result obtained by monitoring the first mobile object.Also provided is a method and program product.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a system 100 according to an embodiment of the presentinvention and a map area corresponding to a geographic space managed bythe system 100.

FIG. 2 shows a subsystem 200 according to the embodiment of the presentinvention and a map area corresponding to a region A managed by thesubsystem 200.

FIG. 3 shows a first exemplary configuration of the system 100 accordingto the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 shows management of events by the event server 210 and the mobileobject server 220 according to one embodiment.

FIG. 5 shows management of mobile object by the mobile object server 220and object server 230 according to one embodiment.

FIG. 6 shows an operational flow of an exemplary configuration of thesystem 100 according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 7 shows an operational flow of S620 according to the presentembodiment.

FIG. 8 shows an operational flow of S650 according to the presentembodiment.

FIG. 9 shows an illustrative example of an event list.

FIG. 10 shows an illustrative example of a candidate event list.

FIG. 11 shows an illustrative example of a notification event list.

FIG. 12 shows a mobile object 10 and events according to one embodiment.

FIG. 13 shows an operational flow of S660 according to the presentembodiment.

FIG. 14 shows a second exemplary configuration of the system 100according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 15 shows a third exemplary configuration of the system 100according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 16 shows an exemplary configuration of a portion of the operationalflow of the system 100 according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 17 shows a fourth exemplary configuration of the system 100according to the present embodiment.

FIG. 18 shows a computer according to an embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Hereinafter, example embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed. The example embodiments shall not limit the inventionaccording to the claims, and the combinations of the features describedin the embodiments are not necessarily essential to the invention.

FIG. 1 shows a system 100 and a map area corresponding to a geographicspace managed by the system 100, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. The system 100 manages a geographic space thatincludes routes on which a mobile object 10 moves. The system 100 isoperable to divide the geographic space into a plurality of regions andmanage these regions. A mobile object 10 may move on routes includingland routes, sea routes, and/or air routes, for example. The geographicspace may be land, sea, or air space that includes the routes on whichthe mobile object travels. The mobile objects 10 may be manned/unmannedautomobiles, motorbikes, bicycles, humans having a digital device,airplanes, vessels, drones, or the like.

FIG. 1 shows an automobile as an example of the mobile object 10, whichmoves along roads as examples of land routes. The system 100 includes aplurality of subsystems 200 that respectively manage the plurality ofregions. FIG. 1 shows an example in which the map area is divided intosix regions from region A to region F, and six subsystems 200respectively manage these six regions.

System 100 comprises a plurality of event servers 210, a plurality ofmobile object servers 220, a plurality of object servers 230, and aplurality of passenger servers 240. According to the embodiment of FIG.1, each of the subsystems 200 may include at least one of the pluralityof event servers 210 and one of the plurality of mobile object servers220.

The event server 210 manages events occurring in each region of thegeographic space. In one embodiment, the event server 210 of subsystem200 assigned to region A may manage events in region A. The plurality ofmobile object servers 220 respectively assigned to a plurality ofregions in a geographic space manage the mobile objects 10 in each ofthe plurality of regions. In one embodiment, the mobile object server220 assigned to region A may manages mobile objects 10 located in regionA. The object server 230 manages information of the mobile objects 10regardless of the location of the mobile objects 10. The passengerserver 240 manages information of at least one passenger riding on themobile objects 10.

Each of the subsystems 200 may be implemented on one or more servers. Inone embodiment, each event server 210 and mobile object server 220 maybe implemented on one server. In one embodiment, a set of an eventserver 210 and a mobile object server 220 in a subsystem 200 may beimplemented by one server. Portions of the system 100 other than thesubsystems 200 may also be implemented on one or more servers. In oneembodiment, each object server 230 and passenger server 240 may beimplemented on one server. In another embodiment, a set of objectservers 230 and a set of passenger servers 240 may be each implementedby one server. In yet another embodiment, all of the object servers 230and the passenger servers 240 may be implemented on one server. Theseservers may exist at any point on a network including the Internet, asubscriber network, a cellular network, or a desired combination ofnetworks. The servers may be computers or other types of dataprocessors, and may be dedicated servers, or may be shared servers thatperform other operations.

The system 100 acquires the positions of a mobile object 10 from themobile object 10, and the mobile object server 220 managing the regionthat includes the acquired position of the mobile object 10 may managethe movement of this mobile object 10. The system 100 acquiresinformation of events that have occurred to the mobile object 10 and/oron the road outside, and the event server 210 managing the regionincluding the position where such an event has occurred may manage thestate of the event.

This event may include information about accidents, obstructions,closure, limitation, status, or construction on the road, or informationabout the weather, temperature, buildings, shops, or parking lots nearthe road. In response to a setting or a request from the mobile object10, the subsystem 200 may provide notification about the eventinformation to the mobile object 10 that made the request. For example,if the mobile object 10 is moving on a route in a geographical areacorresponding to region A, then the mobile object sever 220 managingregion A provides this mobile object 10 with the notification about theevent relating to the route.

Since the map area is divided into a plurality of regions, despite themobile object 10 simply moving on a route, the region corresponding tothe position of the mobile object 10 might change. FIG. 1 shows anexample in which the mobile object 10 is driving on a road such that theposition of the mobile object 10 moves from region A to region B on theregions. In this case, according to the movement of the mobile object10, the system 100 may transfer the information concerning the mobileobject 10 from the mobile object server 220 managing region A to themobile object server 220 managing region B, and may also transfer themanagement of the mobile object 10 to the mobile object server 220managing region B.

FIG. 2 shows a subsystem 200 and a map area corresponding to a region Amanaged by the subsystem 200, according to an embodiment of the presentinvention. The event server 210 manages at least one event agent, andexecutes each event agent to manage events on routes in a regionassigned to the event server 210. An “agent” may be a software entityhaving specific data, and may operable to receive a message (e.g.command), and return a result of the message. Each region of theplurality of regions of geographic space includes at least a portion ofone area of the plurality of areas. In this embodiment, the regionassigned to the event server 210 is the same as the region assigned tothe mobile object server 220. However, in other embodiments, theseregions may be different.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the region A, which is the region assignedto the event server 210, is divided into 16 areas and 16 areas areassigned to each of the event agents EA1-EA16. The event server 210executes each of the event agents EA1-EA16 to manage events occurring onroutes of each area of region A. For example, the event agent EA2 maymanage a “closure” event on an area corresponding to EA2 on the map, andthe event agent EA4 may manage a “speed limit” event on an areacorresponding to EA4 as shown in FIG. 2.

The plurality of mobile object servers 220 may include at least onemobile object server 220 including one or more mobile object agents,each of which is assigned to each of the mobile objects 10. In theembodiment of FIG. 2, the mobile object server 220 includes three mobileobject agents MOAs 1-3 assigned to three mobile objects 10 in theassigned region A. The mobile object server 220 executes each of themobile object agents MOA1-MOA3 to manage the mobile objects 10 travelingon the region A.

FIG. 3 shows an exemplary configuration of the system 100, according toan embodiment of the present invention. The system 100 may be operableto communicate with each of a plurality of mobile objects 10 to send andreceive the information used to manage the mobile objects 10. The system100 may be operable to acquire map data and/or information exchangedwith the mobile objects 10, through the Internet, a subscriber network,a cellular network, or any desired combination of networks. The system100 includes an acquiring section (i.e., module) 110, a dividing section130, a region manager 140, a receiving section 150, a transmittingsection 152, a gateway apparatus 160, a plurality of subsystems 200, aplurality of object servers 230, and a plurality of passenger servers240.

The acquiring section 110 may be operable to acquire map datacorresponding to the geographical areas where a mobile object 10 ispositioned, from an external database 30, for example. In response tothe map being updated, the acquiring section 110 may acquire some or allof the updated map data. The acquiring section 110 may be operable toacquire the map data from the Internet, a subscriber network, a cellularnetwork, or any desired combination of networks. The system 100 may beoperable to store the map data in advance.

The acquiring section 110 may further acquire an event that has occurredwithin the geographic space to be managed by the system 100. In thiscase, the acquiring section 110 may acquire, accident information,traffic information, weather information, time information, etc.

The dividing section 130 may be operable to communicate with theacquiring section 110 and divide the map area into a plurality ofregions. In this embodiment, the dividing section 130 generates twogroups of regions by dividing an original map area into a plurality ofregions.

The region manager 140 may be operable to store information concerningthe plurality of regions including the regions resulting from thedivision. The region manager 140 may be operable to specify thesubsystem 200 managing the region that includes the position of themobile object 10, in response to receiving the position of the mobileobject 10. The region manager 140 may be implemented on one or moreservers. The region manager 140 includes a storage section 142 and adetermining section 146.

The storage section 142 may be operable to communicate with the dividingsection 130 and store information concerning the plurality of firstregions and the plurality of second regions resulting from the divisionby the dividing section 130. The storage section 142 may store settingvalues or the like of the system 100.

The storage section 142 may store intermediate data, calculationresults, threshold values, parameters, and the like that are generatedby or used in the operations of the system 100. In response to a requestfrom any component within the system 100, the storage section 142 maysupply the data stored therein to the component making the request. Thestorage section 142 may be a computer readable storage medium such as anelectric storage device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storagedevice, an electromagnetic storage device, or a semiconductor storagedevice.

The determining section 146 may be operable to communicate with thestorage section 142, and determine one region from the plurality ofregions (e.g., regions A-F of FIG. 1) in which each of the mobileobjects 10 is located based on the position information of the mobileobject 10 and geographic information of the plurality of regions. Thedetermining section 146 may identify a route or position in the map areamanaged by the system 100 that corresponds to the position informationof the mobile object 10.

The determining section 146 may store the position information of thismobile object 10 and/or information of the determined region in thestorage section 142, in association with this mobile object 10. Thedetermining section 146 may store a history of the position informationof this mobile object 10 and/or a history of the determined mobileobject server 220 in the storage section 142. The determining section146 may be a circuit, a shared or dedicated computer readable mediumstoring computer readable program instructions executable by a shared ordedicated processor, etc.

The receiving section 150 may be operable to receive informationtransmitted from each of a plurality of mobile objects 10. Each mobileobject 10 may transmit information at designated time intervals, and thereceiving section 150 may sequentially receive this transmittedinformation. In this embodiment, the receiving section 150 may receivecar probe data from each mobile object 10 as the information. The carprobe data may include information detected by the mobile object 10,such as position information of the mobile object 10.

In one embodiment, the position information may include longitude andlatitude (and optionally altitude information) of the mobile object 10in an absolute coordinate system. In another embodiment, the mobileobject 10 may determine its location in the absolute coordinate systemby using GPS, and the determining section 146 receiving the positioninformation may determine a route on which the mobile object 10 existsand a specific location of the route at which the mobile object 10exists based on the position information. Alternatively, the mobileobject 10 may include such detailed position information in the carprobe data.

The receiving section 150 may communicate with the plurality of mobileobjects 10 and receive the car probe data of each mobile object 10, viathe Internet 40. The receiving section 150 may receive the car probedata of the plurality of mobile objects 10 through wirelesscommunication, a subscriber network, a cellular network, or any desiredcombination of networks.

The transmitting section 152 may be operable to transmit eventinformation to each of the mobile objects 10 according to settings, forexample. The transmitting section 152 may transmit informationconcerning the route on which the mobile object 10 is expected totravel. The transmitting section 152 may communicate with the mobileobjects 10 and transmit each type of information to the mobile objects10 via the Internet 40. The transmitting section 152 may transmit eachtype of information to the mobile objects 10 through wirelesscommunication, a subscriber network, a cellular network, or any desiredcombination of networks.

The gateway apparatus 160 may be operable to transfer communicationbetween the plurality of subsystems 200 and the plurality of mobileobjects 10. The gateway apparatus 160 may communicate with the receivingsection 150 and receive the information transmitted by each mobileobject 10.

The gateway apparatus 160 may communicate with the region manager 140and demand the transfer destination for each piece of informationreceived from the mobile objects 10, of the region manager 140. Inresponse to this request, the gateway apparatus 160 may receive from theregion manager 140 the information of the subsystem 200 managing theregion on which the mobile object 10 exists. The gateway apparatus 160may transfer the information received from the mobile object 10 to thesubsystem 200 that is to manage the mobile object 10. In other words,the gateway apparatus 160 may transfer the information received fromeach mobile object 10 to the subsystem 200 determined by the regionmanager 140.

The gateway apparatus 160 may communicate with each of the subsystems200, and receive the information transmitted by each subsystem 200. Thegateway apparatus 160 may communicate with the transmitting section 152and supply the transmitting section 152 with the information receivedfrom each subsystem 200, such that this information is transferred tothe mobile objects 10 designated for each subsystem 200.

The gateway apparatus 160 may include a plurality of gateway devices,and may quickly perform transfer between the plurality of subsystems 200and the plurality of mobile objects 10. In this case, the receivingsection 150 may function as a load balancer that supplies theinformation from the mobile objects 10, such that the load is spreadamong the plurality of gateways. The load balancer may sequentiallysupply information from the mobile objects 10 to the gateways havinglighter loads. The gateway apparatus 160 may be a network that providesa connection between a plurality of networks using the same or differenttypes of protocols.

A plurality of subsystems 200 may be operable to communicate with theregion manager 140 and the gateway apparatus 160 and to respectivelymanage a plurality of regions in a geographic space. Each subsystem 200is operable to manage mobile objects 10 that travel routes in itsmanaging region and to manage events on its managing region.

As described, each subsystem 200 may include the event server 210 andthe mobile object server 220. The event server 210 manages eventsoccurring on its managing region with the plurality of the event agents.In one embodiment, the event server 210 may perform, through the eventagent, (i) registration, update and/or deletion of events, (ii)registration, update and/or deletion of candidate events, and (iii)provision of event information.

The mobile object server 220 manages the plurality of the mobile objects10 traveling on its managing region with the plurality of the mobileobject agents. In one embodiment, the mobile object server 220 mayperform, through the mobile object agent, (i) processing of the carprobe data, (ii) update of information of the mobile object, and (iii)provision of information to the mobile object. For example, the mobileobject server 220 may execute the mobile object agent to collectinformation of events from at least one event server 210, and providethe mobile object 10 with information that assists the mobile object 10with traveling in the geographic space.

A plurality of object servers 230 including at least one object server230 may communicate with the gate way 160 and include an object agent(OA) containing information of the mobile object 10. An object agent maycorrespond to each mobile object 10 and contain information thereof. Inone embodiment, the object agent may contain (i) information, by region,of which subsystem currently manages a mobile object agent of the mobileobject 10, (ii) an identification (ID) of the mobile object 10, (iii) anID of a passenger of the mobile object 10, and (iv) a characteristic ofthe mobile object 10 (e.g., model/version information, width, length,and/or height of the mobile object 10).

The object server 230 may perform, through the object agent, (i)provision and/or update of information of the mobile object 10, (ii)registration, update, and/or deletion of the ID of passenger riding onthe mobile object 10, (iii) provision and/or update of the informationof the region of the mobile object 10, and (iv) provision of informationneeded for generation of a new mobile object agent by the mobile objectserver 220.

At least one passenger server 240 of a plurality of passenger serversmay communicate with the gateway 160, and include a passenger agent thatcontains information of at least one passenger. A passenger agent maycorrespond to each passenger or candidate passenger of mobile objects10, and contain information thereof. In one embodiment, the object agentmay contain an ID of a passenger and a characteristic of the passenger(e.g., information of age, gender, type, and the like of license of thepassenger). The passenger server 240 may perform, through the passengeragent, provision and/or update of information of the passengers.

As described above, the system 100 of the present embodiment may managethe mobile objects by utilizing the mobile object agents in each mobileobject server 220, and manage the events by utilizing the event agent ineach event server 210. According to the system 100 of the embodiment,the system 100 can separately manage information relating to the mobileobjects 10 and events on the geographic map with a plurality of kinds ofservers. Furthermore, the plurality of mobile object servers 220 cansmoothly transfer the management of the mobile objects 10 travelingacross the regions via the mobile object agents, thereby improving theefficiency of the whole system 100. In addition, according to the system100 of the embodiment, each event server 210 divides event management inone region among the plurality of event agents and provides the mobileobject agent with event information, thereby improving the efficiency ofevent management in the region (e.g., improving response time of eventsearch) and thus event notification to the mobile objects 10. Inaddition, the system 100 can provide the mobile object agent withinformation of mobile object 10 by the object agent of the object server230. The system 100 can also provide the mobile object agent withinformation of passengers of the mobile objects 10 by the passengeragent of the passenger server 240.

FIG. 4 shows management of events by the event server 210 and the mobileobject server 220, according to an embodiment of the present invention.In this embodiment, a mobile object 10 is traveling on a target route onregion A and transmitting a car probe data including the positioninformation to the event server 210 managing region A with the car probedata via a gateway apparatus, such as the gateway apparatus 160. Theevent server 210 manages event information through each event agentbased on the car probe data from the mobile objects on region A. Forexample, each event agent may manage an event list (containinginformation of an event and an influence event for routes on the areamanaged by the event agent) and a candidate event list (containinginformation of candidates of an event for routes on the area managed bythe event agent).

In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the event agent EA2 manages events of anarea (indicated as “DA2” on the region A of FIG. 4) by the event list ofthe event agent EA2 and the candidate event list of the event agent EA2based on car probe data from the mobile object 10 on the area DA2. Forexample, the event agent EA2 assigned to the area DA2 is executable togenerate an event based on the information from the mobile object 10.

In one embodiment, each mobile object server 220 is operable to receiveinformation from the mobile object 10 in the region A assigned to themobile object server 220. The mobile object server 220 determines thetarget route where the mobile object 10 is located. The mobile objectserver 220 sends the information to one event server 210 assigned to aregion A where the mobile object 10 is located, and thereby requests theevent agent EA2 assigned to the area DA2 where the target route islocated to send an event list containing information of an event on thetarget route and the influence event of the target route.

The mobile object server 220 executes the mobile object agent MOA1 forthe mobile object 10 to provide the mobile object 10 with informationthat assists the mobile object 10 with traveling in the area DA2 basedon the information of the event on the other route and the influenceevent of the target route. In the embodiment of FIG. 4, the mobileobject agent MOA1 receives, from the event agent EA2, the eventinformation of the route on which the mobile object 10 exists, andprovides the mobile object 10 with the event information (e.g.,information of closure).

FIG. 5 shows management of a mobile object 10 by the mobile objectservers 220 and object server 230, according to an embodiment of thepresent invention. The mobile object server 220-1 may transfer themobile object agent to the mobile object server 220-2 assigned to aneighboring region in response to the mobile object 10 moving to theneighboring region. In this embodiment, in response to a mobile object10 traveling from region A to region B, the mobile object server 220-1managing region A deletes the mobile object agent MOA for the mobileobject 10, and a mobile object server 220-2 managing region B generatesa mobile object agent MOA for the mobile object 10.

In this embodiment, the object server 230 may store information thatincludes a mobile object server identifier MOS-ID that identifies one ofthe plurality of mobile object servers 220 executing the mobile objectagent corresponding to the mobile object 10. Just after the mobileobject 10 arrives at region B, the mobile object server 220-2 has notbeen executing the mobile object agent for the mobile object 10. Themobile object server 220-2 is operable to receive information from themobile object 10 in the region B assigned to the mobile object server220-2.

Using the information from the mobile object 10, the mobile objectserver 220-2 obtains the mobile object server identifier MOS-ID from theobject server 230 that manages the object agent for the mobile object 10because the mobile object server 220-2 is not executing the mobileobject agent for the mobile object 10. The mobile object server 220-2requests a mobile object server 220-1 identified by the mobile objectserver identifier MOS-ID to transfer the mobile object agent for themobile object 10. Then the mobile object server 220-1 managing region Atransfers the mobile object agent to the mobile object server 220-2assigned to a neighboring region B in response to the request.

FIG. 6 shows an operational flow of a system, according to an embodimentof the present invention. The present embodiment describes an example inwhich the system 100 performs the operations from S610 to S680 shown inFIG. 6 to manage mobile objects, such as mobile object 10, and events ona map area. FIG. 6 shows one example of the operational flow of thesystem 100 shown in FIGS. 1-5, but the system 100 shown in FIGS. 1-5 isnot limited to using this operational flows explained below. Also, theoperational flow in FIG. 6 may be performed by other systems.

First, an acquiring section, such as the acquiring section 110, mayacquire the map data of the geographic space to be managed by the system(S610). The acquiring section may acquire map data of a geographic spacethat includes one or more cities, one or more towns, and the like. Theacquiring section may include map data of a geographic space includingone or more states, countries, continents, etc. A dividing section, suchas the dividing section 130, may divide the map area to generate aplurality of regions.

Next, the system may perform an initialization process for the mobileobject (S620). The system may perform the process of S620 if a user(passenger) initializes a setting of a mobile object and any passengersof the mobile object, before starting to drive the mobile object.

After S620, a gateway apparatus, such as the gateway apparatus 160, ofthe system may acquire a car probe data from the mobile object (S630).Although the system may acquire the car probe data from the plurality ofthe mobile objects, the system acquiring a car probe data from onemobile object (which, may be referred to as “a target mobile object”) isexplained in the below description. The car probe data may includeinformation detected by the target mobile object, such as currentposition information of the target mobile object, a speed and/ordirection of the target mobile object, and event information observed bythe target mobile object (e.g., occurrence of ABS, detection ofobstacles, or the like). In one embodiment, the position information mayinclude an edge ID of an edge on which the target mobile object existsand the distance between the current location of the target mobileobject and the one end of the edge.

Next, the gateway apparatus may determine a region on which the targetmobile object is traveling based on the position information of the carprobe data of the target mobile object (S640). In one embodiment, thegateway apparatus may inquire a region manager, such as the regionmanager 140, about the region on which the mobile object exists. Adetermining section, such as the determining section 146, of the regionmanager may determine the region the target mobile object and providethe gateway apparatus with the information of the region of the targetmobile object. The gateway apparatus may provide an event server, suchas the event server 210, that manages the determined region and a mobileobject server, such as the mobile object server 220, that manages thedetermined region with the car probe data.

Next, the event server that is provided with the car probe data of thetarget mobile object may process events for the mobile objects (S650).The event server may manage event information based on the car probedata for notification of events to the target mobile object.

After S650, the mobile object server that is provided with the car probedata of the target mobile object may manage a mobile object agent forthe target mobile object (S660).

After S660, the system determines whether to end the process for thetarget mobile object. In one embodiment, the gateway apparatus maydetermine whether the car probe date indicates the engine stop of thetarget mobile object. If the system determines not to end the process,then the system proceeds with the process of S630 for the target mobileobject. If the system determines to end the process, then the systemends the process for the target mobile object, and may continue theprocess for other mobile objects.

As described above, the system manages mobile objects by utilizingmobile object agents realized by the plurality of the mobile objectservers. Since the system can transfer the mobile object agent betweenthe mobile object servers, it can efficiently manage the mobile objectstraveling around the plurality of regions. Furthermore, the systemcollects car probe data from the mobile objects and manages eventsgenerated from the car probe data by utilizing the event agents. Sinceeach event server divides a number of events occurring on its managingregions into a plurality of areas by utilizing the event agents, it canefficiently handle event information.

The process of S610 may be performed once before starting processesS620-S680. The process of S620-S680 may be performed for every mobileobject.

FIG. 7 shows an operational flow of an initialization process for amobile object, according to an embodiment of the present invention. Thepresent embodiment describes an example in which the system performs aninitialization process, such as the initialization process of S620 ofFIG. 6, through processes S621 to S623 shown in FIG. 7.

First, a gateway apparatus receives a setting data (including an ID ofthe mobile object, an ID(s) of passenger(s) and position information ofthe mobile object) from the mobile object (S621). The gateway apparatusdetermines one mobile object server that manages the mobile object basedon the position information of the mobile object. The gateway apparatusprovides the determined mobile object server with the setting data.Then, the determined mobile object server obtains information (e.g.,ID(s) of the passenger(s)) of at least one passenger of the mobileobject from the setting data of the mobile object.

Then, the mobile object server may request the object agent of theobject server for the mobile object to store the information of the atleast one passenger of the mobile object (S622). For example, eachmobile object may be mapped to each object agent of the object serversbased on values of the IDs of the mobile objects, and the mobile objectserver may identify one object agent corresponding to the ID of themobile object based on the calculation using the ID. Then, the mobileobject server may provide the object server managing the identifiedobject agent with the setting data including the position information,the ID of the mobile object, and ID(s) of passenger(s) of the mobileobject via the gateway apparatus.

Next, the object server stores the information of passenger(s) on anobject agent. In one embodiment, each of passengers may be preliminarilymapped to each of the passenger servers based on values of the IDs ofpassengers, and the passenger servers may have information ofpassengers. The object server may identify one passenger servercorresponding to the ID of a passenger based on the calculation usingthe ID. The object server may receive, via the gateway apparatus, theinformation of passengers from the passenger server corresponding to theID. Then, the object server may store or update the information of themobile object and the passengers of the mobile object, in the objectagent for the mobile object. The object server may include theinformation of a region that the mobile object currently exists, in theobject agent.

Next, the mobile object server 220 managing the region in which themobile object 10 exists generates a new mobile object agent for themobile object 10 (S623). In one embodiment, the mobile object server 220may copy the information of the object agent for the mobile object 10 tothe newly generated mobile object agent. For example, the mobile objectserver 220 may store the information of the mobile object 10 and theinformation of the at least one passenger of the mobile object 10 in thenewly generated mobile object agent for the mobile object 10.

FIG. 8 shows an operational flow of event processing, according to anembodiment of the present invention. The present embodiment describes anexample in which the system performs event processing, such as the eventprocessing of S650 of FIG. 6, through processes S651 to S659 shown inFIG. 8.

First, the event server may identify an event agent (S651). In oneembodiment, the event sever determines one event agent from theplurality of event agents based on the position information of thetarget mobile object. The determined event agent may be referred to as“target event agent.” For example, the event server determines a targetroute (or an edge of the map data) of the target mobile object based onthe position information and the map data, and selects, as a targetevent agent, an event agent that manages an area including the targetroute of the target mobile object indicated by the car probe data. Inanother embodiment, the car probe data of a target mobile object mayinclude the information of the target route of the target mobile object.

Next, the event server may edit event lists by the target event agentbased on the car probe data (S652). In one embodiment, the target eventagent may generate or update information of events (e.g., an edge thatan event occurs, an event ID, a location of an event, and content ofevent) of the target route on the event list based on information of thecar probe data. The event of the target route may be referred to as a“target event.”

Next, the event server may search, by the target event agent, aninfluence event on the target route on the area of the target eventagent based on the car probe data (S653). The influence event of thetarget route relates to an event on another route within a thresholddistance (e.g., a threshold travelling distance of the target route, athreshold number of edges away from the target route, and/or a thresholdtravelling time from the target route).

In one embodiment, the target event agent itself may search routes (oredge IDs) apart from the target route within the threshold distancebased on the topology information of routes in the regions, or mayrequest other entities (e.g., a server) to search for routes (or edgeIDs).

Next, the event server may determine whether the event list of thetarget event agent includes event entries corresponding to all influenceevents of the target route searched at S653 (S654). In one embodiment,the target event agent determines whether edges of the influence eventsare listed as edge IDs of events in the event list.

If an area managed by a target event agent includes the routes (edges)of all influence events relating to an event, then an event list of thetarget event agent includes corresponding event entries of all influenceevents. However, if the routes (edges) of any influence events aremanaged by other event agents, then the event list may not includecorresponding event entries of all influence events. If the decision ispositive, then the event server proceeds with the process S655 and ifnegative, the event server proceeds with the process S656.

At S655, the event server may edit a notification event ID list by thetarget event agent. The notification event ID list includes IDs ofinfluence events and edge IDs of the influence events that aredetermined to be not included in the event list of the target eventagent at S654. In other words, the notification event ID list is a listof event IDs of influence events that are not managed by the targetevent agent. Then, the event server may proceed with the process ofS656.

At S656, the event server may edit a notification event list for thetarget mobile object, by the target event agent. The notification eventlist is a list of events that may be helpful to the target mobile objecttraveling on the target route. The notification event list may includetarget events and influence events of the target events. The targetevent agent may add entries of the target events and the influenceevents in its managing event list for notification.

Next, the event server determines, by the target event agent, whetherthe notification event ID list has at least one entry. If the decisionis positive, then the event server proceeds with the process of S658,and if negative, then the event server ends the process of S650.

At S658, the event server may identify, by the target event agent, anevent agent that manages an event list including events in thenotification event ID list. The determined event agent may be referredto as “remote event agent.”

Next, the event server may acquire information of events in thenotification event ID list (S659), and end the process S650. In oneembodiment, the target event agent may receive information of events inthe notification event ID list from the remote event agent, and edit thenotification event list based on the acquired information. In anotherembodiment, the target event agent may add entries of the influenceevents in the notification event ID list based on the acquiredinformation.

FIG. 9 shows an illustrative example of an event list, according to anembodiment of the present invention. As described in FIG. 9, the eventlist may include edge IDs of events, event IDs of events, locations ofevents, specific contents of events, and influence events relating toevents. In this embodiment, each route is represented as “edge.” Forexample, this event list indicates that an event (identified as “Eve0214”) has occurred along the full length of edge 0001 on the area, thatthe event has limited the speed to 30 km/h, and that edge 0001 includesan influence event identified as “Eve 0114.” The event list alsoindicates that an event (identified as “Eve 0114” on edge 0002) hasoccurred 32 m from the 1st node on edge 0002 on the area, that the eventis a closure of a route, and that edge 0001 includes influence eventsidentified as “Eve 0214” on edge 0001, “Eve 0421” on edge 0003, etc. Inone embodiment, the target event agent may add a new entry correspondingto an event detected by the car probe data, in the event list.

According to the first entry in the event list of FIG. 9, the edge 0001has influence event 0114. This may mean that a mobile object travelingon the edge 0001 is influenced by the event 0114 that has occurred apartfrom edge 0001 within a threshold distance. In response to receiving thecar probe data including the position information indicating that thetarget mobile object is traveling on the edge 0001, the target eventagent searches and obtains routes (edge IDs) apart from the target route(edge 0001) within the threshold distance, and then finds neighboringedge 0002 as a result. In response to receiving the car probe dataincluding the position information of the edge 0001, the target eventagent determines whether the edge of influence event (edge 0002)corresponding to the target route is listed as edge IDs in the eventlist.

The target event agent assigned to the area may generate or update acandidate event based on information from the target mobile object. Inone embodiment, the target event agent may generate or update candidateevents on the candidate event list including information of a pluralityof edges on the area of the event agent based on information of the carprobe data.

Although the event list of FIG. 9 includes information of influenceevents, the information of the influence events may be managed byanother list. In one embodiment, the event agent may manage both a firstevent list containing information of an event on the target route and asecond event list containing information of the influence event.

FIG. 10 shows an illustrative example of a candidate event list,according to an embodiment of the present invention. As described inFIG. 10, the event list may include edge IDs of candidate events, countsof detecting candidate events, locations of candidate events, andspecific contents of candidate events for each candidate event. Forexample, this candidate event list indicates that evidence of an event(congestion) has been observed twice along the full length of edge 0009on the area, and that evidence of an event (skid) has been observed onceat a point 15 m from the 2nd node on edge 0013 on the area.

The target event agent may determine whether to change a candidate eventin the candidate event list to an event in the event list. In oneembodiment, the target event agent may upgrade the candidate event tothe event based on information from other mobile objects. In this case,the target event agent counts occurrences of a candidate event observedby a plurality of mobile objects (including the target mobile object andother mobile objects). If the count of a candidate event exceeds athreshold value, then the target event agent determines that thecandidate event is upgraded to an event. In one embodiment, in responseto the upgrade, the target event agent deletes the entry of thecandidate event from the candidate event list, and generates a new entryof an event corresponding to the deleted candidate event. The eventservers may set the same or different criteria for upgrading candidateevents among the plurality of event agents.

FIG. 11 shows an illustrative example of a notification event list,according to an embodiment of the present invention. As described inFIG. 11, the notification event list may include edge IDs oftarget/influence events, event IDs of target/influence events, locationsof target/influence events, and specific contents of target/influenceevents. For example, this notification event list indicates that anevent (speed limit) has occurred along the full length of edge 0001 onthe area, and that an event (closure) has occurred at a point 32 m fromthe 1st node on edge 0002 on the area.

FIG. 12 shows a mobile object and events, according to an embodiment ofthe present invention. In the embodiment of FIG. 12, the target mobileobject 10 is traveling eastbound on the edge 0001, which is the targetroute. The target event agent EA1 manages an area including the edge0001, the edge 0002, the edge 0101, and the edge 0102, and theneighboring event agent EA2 manages an area including the edge 0003, theedge 0103, and the edge 0104.

Direction dependent edges are described in FIG. 12. However, edges maynot be direction dependent according other embodiments, and in suchembodiments, the event agent may manage events, candidate events, andinfluence events with direction information. The target event agent EA1manages an event (Eve 0214) on the edge 0001 as the target event in theevent list. Since the edge 0002 is apart from the edge 0001 within thethreshold distance, the target event agent EA1 also manages an event(Eve 0114) on the edge 0002 as an influence event in the event list. Thetarget event agent EA1 manages a notification event list including thetarget event (Eve 0214) and the influence event (Eve 0114) for thetarget mobile object 10.

In the embodiment of FIG. 12, the mobile object agent managing targetmobile object requests the event agent EA1 that manages the target event(e.g., Eve 0214) and the influence event (e.g., Eve 0114) to send thenotification event list including the target event and the influenceevent. In another embodiment, the mobile object agent may request theremote event agent EA2 that manages the information of influenceevent(s) (e.g., Eve 0421) to send a notification event list containinginformation of the influence event(s) if the influence event is locatedoutside of the area including the target route (Edge 0001).

FIG. 13 shows an operational flow of mobile object processing, accordingto an embodiment of the present invention. The present embodimentdescribes an example in which the system manages the target mobileobject, such as in S660 of FIG. 6, through processes S661 to S669 shownin FIG. 13.

At S661, the mobile object server may determine whether the mobileobject agent for the target mobile object exists in the regiondetermined to be the region of the mobile object, such as the regiondetermined at S640. In other words, the mobile object server determineswhether the mobile object server manages the mobile object agent of thetarget mobile object. If the decision is positive, then the mobileobject server proceeds with the process S667, and if negative, themobile object server proceeds with the process S662.

At S662, the mobile object server may identify an object server thatincludes the object agent containing the information of the targetmobile object. In one embodiment, the mobile object server may identifythe object server in the same manner described in S622.

Next, at S663, the mobile object server may inquire the object server230 identified at S662 for the location of the mobile object agent ofthe target mobile object. The object server may refer to the objectagent of the target mobile object, obtain information of the mobileobject server that currently manages the mobile object agent MOA of thetarget mobile object, if it exists, and provide the mobile object serverwith the information.

Next, the mobile object server may determine whether the mobile objectagent for the target mobile object exists in any other regions. In otherwords, the mobile object server may determine which mobile object servermanages the mobile object agent for the target mobile object from theplurality of mobile object servers managing other regions, at S663. Ifthe decision is positive, then the mobile object server proceeds withthe process S666, and if negative the mobile object server proceeds withthe process S665.

At S665, the mobile object server generates a new mobile object agentMOA for the target mobile object. The mobile object server may generatethe mobile object agent MOA for the target mobile object by obtaininginformation of the target mobile object from the object server thatincludes the object agent containing the information of the targetmobile object. In one embodiment, the mobile object server may generatethe new mobile object agent in the same manner described in S623. Themobile object server may also communicate with the object server via thegateway apparatus, and register the current region of the target mobileobject in the object agent corresponding to the target mobile object. Bygenerating the new mobile object agent, the system can handle a newmobile object 10 that has been not managed by the mobile object server.

At S666, the mobile object server may transfer the mobile object agentfrom the other mobile object server determined to manage the mobileobject agent for the target mobile object at 5664. In one embodiment,the mobile object server may receive information of the mobile objectagent for the target mobile object from the other mobile object server,and generate a new mobile object agent including the receivedinformation. The mobile object server may also communicate with theobject server via the gateway apparatus, and register the current regionof the target mobile object in the object agent of the target mobileobject.

Next, at S667, the mobile object server may receive a notification eventlist for the target mobile object. In one embodiment, the mobile objectserver first determines the target route where the target mobile objectis located. Then, the mobile object server may request the event agentthat manages the information of target event(s) and influence event(s)corresponding to the target route to send a notification event listcontaining information of the target event(s) and influence event(s) ofthe target route.

At S668, the mobile object server may update the current location of thetarget mobile object by the mobile object agent. In one embodiment, themobile object agent for the target mobile object updates the currentlocation of the target mobile object based on the position informationof the car probe data.

At S669, the mobile object server may execute the mobile object agentfor the target mobile object to provide the target mobile object withinformation that assists the target mobile object with traveling in thegeographic space based on the information included in the event list. Inone embodiment, the mobile object agent may provide the target mobileobject with information of events on the notification event list.

In one embodiment, the at least one mobile object server may execute themobile object agent for the target mobile object to provide the targetmobile object with information that assists the target mobile objectwith traveling in the geographic space based on the information of theat least one passenger of the target mobile object. For example, themobile object agent may provide the target mobile object with an alert,a notice, and/or an action list relating events on the notificationevent list depending on a number of passengers (e.g., for guiding a carpool lane), the age, gender, license, real time information (e.g.,driving history or sleep history), and characteristics of thepassengers.

The action list is a list of actions recommended to passengers inresponse to the events (e.g., braking, accelerating, and/or steering ofthe target mobile object).

The action list may include commands to the target mobile object forautomatic driving and/or driving assist. In one embodiment, the mobileobject agent may include information that the passenger is sensitive torough driving, and then the mobile object agent may provide commands togently drive the target mobile object. In one embodiment, the mobileobject agent may include information of driving skill of a driverpassenger, and then provide different commands depending on the skill ofthe driver. The mobile object server may provide the target mobileobject with the information via the gateway apparatus.

As described above, the mobile object server receives information fromthe target mobile object in the region assigned to the mobile objectserver, and generates the mobile object agent for the target mobileobject if there is no mobile object server among the plurality of mobileobject servers that is executing the mobile object agent.

FIG. 14 shows an exemplary configuration of the system 100, according toan embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, eachsubsystem 200 includes an event server 210, mobile object server 220, anobject server 230, and a passenger server 240. However, otherembodiments are also possible, in which each subsystem 200 comprises anycombination of singles or multiples of each server. In otherembodiments, the system 100 may manage allocation of object agents ofthe object server 230 and passenger agents of the passenger server 240in the subsystem 200. For example, the gateway apparatus 160 may changeallocation of the object/passenger agents to the subsystems 200 torectify the imbalance of data processing loads among the subsystems 200.

In the embodiment described above, the event server 210 may manageallocated event agents. In other embodiments, the system 100 may manageallocation of event agents to the event servers 210. For example, thegateway apparatus 160 may change allocation of event agents to the eventservers 210 to rectify the imbalance of loads of processing events amongthe event servers 210. In the embodiment described above, the eventserver 210 causes each event agent to manage allocated divided areaderived from a region. In other embodiment, the event server 210 causesat least one event agent to manage specific information regarding events(e.g., cross section of roads or other specific function(s) of a map,or, hurricane or other disaster/accident).

FIG. 15 shows an exemplary configuration of a system 100 according tothe present embodiment. In the system 100 according to the presentembodiment, components having substantially the same operation ascomponents of the system 100 of the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 14are given the same reference numerals, and redundant descriptions areomitted. In the present embodiment, the mobile object server 220 may beoperable to assist a plurality of mobile objects in a geographic space.The system 100 monitors mobile objects that do not communicate with thesystem 100, in addition to the plurality of mobile objects.

In the present embodiment, a mobile object that does not communicatewith the system 100 is a first mobile object 12. The first mobile object12 may be a mobile object that does not receive at least some movementassistance from the system 100. The first mobile object 12 is a mobileobject that is driven by being manipulated manually by a driver withoutusing the system 100 according to the present embodiment or a mobileobject that is managed by a system other than the system 100, forexample. The first mobile object 12 may include a mobile object 10 thatis managed by the system 100 but is driven manually by a driver. Thefirst mobile object 12 may include a mobile object 10 that is managed bythe system 100 but has difficulty communicating with the system 100 dueto an irregularity or damage, for example.

In the present embodiment, a mobile object 10 managed by the system 100is referred to as a second mobile object 10, to be distinguished from afirst mobile object 12. In other words, a second mobile object 10 issubstantially the same as the mobile objects 10 described in FIGS. 1 to14, and is a target for assistance by the system 100. In the presentembodiment, when not making a particular distinction, the first mobileobjects 12 and the second mobile objects 10 are both referred to simplyas mobile objects.

At least some of a plurality of second mobile objects 10 may include asensor or camera for observing the outside, and may be operable toobserve other mobile objects using this camera or sensor. In this case,the second mobile object 10 may include the results of observing othermobile objects in the car probe data, and supply this data to the system100. If a first mobile object 12 is operable to communicate with thesystem 100, the system 100 may acquire the car probe data from the firstmobile object 12. The system 100 may be operable to manage theobservation of other mobile objects by supplying signals designatingsensitivity, number of frames, angle of field, image quality,observation direction, and the like to the mobile objects that areoperable to observe other mobile objects.

The system 100 may be operable to communicate with a monitoringapparatus 50 provided on a route on which the mobile objects move. Thesystem 100 may receive results of observing mobile objects moving on theroute from the monitoring apparatus 50. The system 100 may be operableto receive the results of observing the mobile objects along withposition information of the monitoring apparatus 50. The system 100 maybe operable to supply the monitoring apparatus 50 with a signaldesignating sensitivity, number of frames, angle of field, imagequality, observation direction, and the like, to manage the observationof the mobile objects by the monitoring apparatus 50. Some or all of themonitoring apparatus 50 may be a portion of the system 100.

The subsystems 200 according to the present embodiment may manage thesecond mobile objects 10 while monitoring the first mobile objects 12 ina geographic space being managed. In the present embodiment, the mobileobject server 220 in each subsystem 200 further includes a receivingsection 310, a monitoring section 320, an observation instructingsection 330, a history storage section 340, a movement predictingsection 350, and an assisting section 360.

The receiving section 310 may be operable to receive information ofother mobile objects observed by at least one of a second mobile object10 and the monitoring apparatus 50. The receiving section 310 mayreceive the mobile object observation results as car probe data fromsecond mobile objects 10 that are capable of observing other mobileobjects. If the receiving section 310 receives mobile object informationfrom the monitoring apparatus 50, the system 100 may supply thesubsystem 200 corresponding to the position information of themonitoring apparatus 50 with the mobile object information received fromthe monitoring apparatus 50, in the same manner as the car probe data.

The monitoring section 320 may be operable to monitor the first mobileobjects 12. The monitoring section 320 may be operable to monitor thefirst mobile objects 12 using the received information from the firstmobile objects 12. The monitoring section 320 may be operable to observefirst mobile objects 12 that are driven manually and first mobileobjects 12 that are driven automatically but do not receive assistancefrom this system 100, for example. The monitoring section 320 may detecta first mobile object 12 by comparing mobile object information observedby the monitoring apparatus 50 and/or a second mobile object 10 toinformation of a second mobile object 10 managed by the mobile objectserver 220, and monitor the movement of the detected first mobile object12.

The observation instructing section 330 may be operable to instruct asecond mobile object 10 positioned within a predetermined range from afirst mobile object 12 to observe this first mobile object 12. If afirst mobile object 12 is detected, the observation instructing section330 may instruct a second mobile object 10 capable of observing mobileobjects, from among the second mobile objects 10 moving near this firstmobile object 12, to observe this first mobile object 12. In this case,the observation instructing section 330 may instruct the mobile objectagent MOA corresponding to this second mobile object 10 to observe thefirst mobile object 12.

The history storage section 340 may be operable to store historyinformation of first mobile objects 12 that are monitoring targets. Thehistory storage section 340 may store results obtained by the monitoringsection 320 detecting and monitoring the first mobile objects 12 as thehistory information. The history storage section 340 may further storeinformation concerning the routes on which second mobile objects 10 moveand/or statistical information concerning the routes on which the secondmobile objects 10 move, as the history information.

The movement predicting section 350 may be operable to predict adestination of a first mobile object 12. The movement predicting section350 may predict the movement destination of the first mobile objectusing the results obtained from monitoring the first mobile object 12.The movement predicting section 350 may predict the movement destinationof the first mobile object 12 based on the history information of thefirst mobile object 12 stored in the history storage section 340. Themovement predicting section 350 may predict the movement destination ofthe first mobile object 12 based on the history information of thesecond mobile objects 10 stored in the history storage section 340.

The assisting section 360 may be operable to assist with the movement ofthe second mobile objects 10 using the results obtained by monitoringthe first mobile object 12. The assisting section 360 may be operable toassist with the automatic driving of the second mobile objects 10. Theassisting section 360 may be operable to assist with the movement of thesecond mobile objects 10 using the history information of the firstmobile object 12 stored in the history storage section 340. Theassisting section 360 may be operable to assist with the movement of thesecond mobile objects 10 using the prediction results of the movementpredicting section 350.

The assisting section 360 may be operable to notify a second mobileobject 10 about the information of a first mobile object 12 positionedwithin a reference range from the second mobile object 10. The assistingsection 360 may be operable to notify a second mobile object 10positioned within a reference range from a position predicted as themovement destination of the first mobile object 12 about the informationof this first mobile object 12. The assisting section 360 may transmitto the mobile object agent MOA corresponding to a second mobile object10 notification and/or instructions corresponding to the information ofthe first mobile object 12.

The system 100 according to the present embodiment described abovedetects and monitors a first mobile object 12 based on mobile objectinformation observed by the monitoring apparatus 50 and/or a secondmobile object 10, and manages the second mobile objects 10 according tothe monitoring results. The operation of managing the second mobileobjects 10 performed by this system 100 is described below.

FIG. 16 shows an exemplary configuration of a portion of the operationalflow of the system 100 according to the present embodiment. The mobileobject server 220 according to the present embodiment may be operable toassist with the movement of a plurality of second mobile objects 10within a geographic space, by performing the operational flow shown inFIG. 16. Specifically, the operational flow of FIG. 16 may be performedby the mobile object server 220 in addition to or instead of theprocessing at S660 (Mobile Object Server Processing) of the mobileobject server described in FIGS. 6 and 13.

First, at S671, the receiving section 310 may receive information ofanother mobile object observed by at least one of the monitoringapparatus 50 and a second mobile object 10. The receiving section 310may supply the monitoring section 320 with the information of this othermobile object.

At S672, the monitoring section 320 may judge whether the other mobileobject is a first mobile object 12. The monitoring section 320 may beoperable to begin monitoring this other mobile object as a new firstmobile object 12 in response to this other mobile object observed by themonitoring apparatus 50 and/or a second mobile object 10 not matchingany second mobile object 10 that is an assistance target. For example,the monitoring section 320 makes this judgment by detecting the presenceof information substantially matching the positional information, outerappearance, passenger characteristics (number or genders of thepassengers), and the like among the information of the plurality ofmobile object agents managed by the mobile object server 220.

If there is information that matches the information of this othermobile object, the monitoring section 320 may judge that this othermobile object is a second mobile object 10. If no other first mobileobject 12 to be monitored is detected (S672: No), the monitoring section320 may end this operation. If there is no information matching theinformation of this other mobile object, the monitoring section 320 mayjudge that this other mobile object is a first mobile object 12 (S672:Yes) and begin monitoring this first mobile object 12.

At S673, the observation instructing section 330 may instruct a secondmobile object 10 moving near this first mobile object 12 to observe thefirst mobile object 12. If there is another monitoring apparatus 50positioned within a predetermined range from this first mobile object12, the observation instructing section 330 may instruct this othermonitoring apparatus 50 to observe the first mobile object 12.

If a second mobile object 10 and/or a monitoring apparatus 50 isinstructed to observe the first mobile object 12, the observationinstructing section 330 may further designate sensitivity, number offrames, angle of field, image quality, monitoring direction, and thelike for the observation by the second mobile object 10 and/ormonitoring apparatus 50. In this way, the monitoring section 320 canimprove the accuracy of the monitoring of the first mobile object 12 andcontinue this monitoring.

At S674, the monitoring section 320 may store the results obtained bymonitoring the first mobile object 12 that is the monitoring target inthe history storage section 340. If a plurality of first mobile objects12 are being monitored, the monitoring section 320 may accumulate themonitoring results for each first mobile object 12.

At S675, the movement predicting section 350 may predict the movementdestination of the first mobile object 12. If a history of detection ofthe first mobile object 12 in the past at the position of the firstmobile object 12 is stored, the movement predicting section 350 may setthe direction in which the first mobile object 12 moved in this historyto be the predicted direction of the first mobile object 12 beingcurrently monitored.

If a history of movement of a second mobile object 10 in the past at theposition of the first mobile object 12 is stored, the movementpredicting section 350 may set the direction in which this second mobileobject 10 moved to be the predicted direction of the first mobile object12 being currently monitored. Furthermore, if histories of movement of aplurality of mobile objects at the position of the first mobile object12 are stored, the movement predicting section 350 may predict themovement destination of the first mobile object 12 being currentlymonitored based on the statistical information of these histories.

At S676, the assisting section 360 may assist with the movement of thesecond mobile object 10 that is an assistance target based on theresults of monitoring the first mobile object 12. The assisting section360 may be operable to assist with the movement of the second mobileobject 10 using at least one of an outer appearance of the observedfirst mobile object 12, a driving characteristic, a characteristic of apassenger, and a characteristic of a route on which the first mobileobject 12 is positioned.

The assisting section 360 may be operable to instruct the second mobileobject 10 in a manner to be distanced from the first mobile object 12 byat least a reference distance. The assisting section 360 may be operableto guide the second mobile object 10 into a route differing from theroute on which the first mobile object 12 is moving. If there is asecond mobile object 10 within a reference range from the position ofthe first mobile object 12, the assisting section 360 may instruct thissecond mobile object 10 to move outside of this reference range.

The assisting section 360 may determine whether to avoid the firstmobile object 12 according to the outer appearance of the first mobileobject 12, such as scratches, the state (peeling paint or rust), andalterations. The assisting section 360 may determine whether to avoidthe first mobile object 12 according to fluctuation in the distancebetween the first mobile object 12 and the second mobile object 10. Ifit is determined that the first mobile object 12 is to be avoided, theassisting section 360 may instruct a second mobile object 10 in the samelane as this first mobile object 12 to make a lane change. If it isdetermined that the first mobile object 12 is to be avoided, theassisting section 360 may instruct a second mobile object 10 on the sameroute as this first mobile object 12 to change routes.

The assisting section 360 may assist with the movement of a secondmobile object 10 using the movement destination of the first mobileobject 12 predicted by the movement predicting section 350. For example,the assisting section 360 instructs the second mobile object 10 to be ata distance greater than or equal to a reference distance from thepredicted position where the first mobile object 12 will move. Theassisting section 360 may instruct the second mobile object 10 to changeroutes to be on a route differing from the route on which the firstmobile object 12 is predicted to move.

In the manner described above, if a first mobile object 12 moves into ageographic space being managed, the mobile object server 220 can managethe movement of a plurality of second mobile objects 10 while monitoringthe movement of this first mobile object 12. In other words, the system100 can assist with the automatic driving of a plurality of secondmobile objects 10 by monitoring a first mobile object 12 that is drivenmanually or a first mobile object 12 that is driven automaticallywithout receiving assistance from this system 100. In this way, thesystem 100 manages the movement of the second mobile object 10 accordingto the results obtained by monitoring an automobile whose behavior isdifficult to predict, for example, and can therefore reduce the risk ofdangerous driving, accidents, and the like.

The system 100 according to the present embodiment described aboveassists with the automatic driving of a plurality of second mobileobjects 10, based on results of monitoring a first mobile object 12.Instead of or in addition to this, the system 100 may be operable toprocess movement of a first mobile object 12 as an event. For example,the monitoring section 320 notifies as event server 210 that is operableto process events occurring in the geographic space about information ofthe first mobile object 12. In this case, the event server 210 may beoperable to register the presence of the first mobile object 12 as anevent. The assisting section 360 may be operable to assist with movementof the second mobile objects 10 based on the events registered in theevent server 210. For example, the assisting section 360 may assist withthe movement of the second mobile objects 10 according to the event of afirst mobile object 12 received from the event server 210.

The system 100 according to the present embodiment described abovemonitors the first mobile object 12 using the mobile object server 220.In addition to this, the mobile object server 220 may assign a tracedmobile object agent TMOA to correspond to a first mobile object 12 to bemonitored, and perform monitoring using this traced mobile object agentTMOA.

Specifically, the mobile object server 220 may assign a traced mobileobject agent TMOA in response to detection of a first mobile object 12,and update the information of the traced mobile object agent TMOAaccording to the results obtained by monitoring the first mobile object12. If an assigned traced mobile object agent TMOA does not observeanything for longer than a reference time period, the mobile objectserver 220 may remove this traced mobile object agent TMOA. In this way,the mobile object server 220 can easily manage the monitoring results ofthe movement of a plurality of first mobile objects 12 for each firstmobile object 12, by using the traced mobile object agents TMOA.

If the monitoring results for a first mobile object 12 are being managedusing a traced mobile object agent TMOA, the system 100 may performmanagement using a server other than the mobile object server 220. Forexample, the system 100 may include a traced mobile object server foreach subsystem 200. Such a system 100 is shown in FIG. 17.

FIG. 17 shows an exemplary configuration of a system 100 according tothe present embodiment. The subsystem 200 further includes a tracedmobile object server 300. The traced mobile object server 300 includes areceiving section 310, a monitoring section 320, an observationinstructing section 330, a history storage section 340, a movementpredicting section 350, and an assisting section 360. In the system 100of the present embodiment, components having substantially the sameoperation as components of the system 100 of the embodiment shown inFIG. 15 are given the same reference numerals, and redundantdescriptions are omitted.

The system 100 according to the present embodiment shown in FIG. 17 maybe operable to perform the monitoring of a first mobile object 12described in FIGS. 15 and 16 using a traced mobile object server 300that is different from the mobile object server 220. Furthermore, thetraced mobile object server 300 may be operable to manage the monitoringresults of the first mobile object 12 using a traced mobile object agentTMOA. The traced mobile object server 300 may transmit instructions forassisting the second mobile objects 10 to the mobile object server 220,according to information concerning detection, movement, and predictedmovement from the traced mobile object agent TMOA. The traced mobileobject server 300 may register the information from the traced mobileobject agent TMOA in the event server 210.

FIG. 18 shows an exemplary configuration of a computer 1900 according toan embodiment of the invention. The computer 1900 according to thepresent embodiment includes a CPU 2000, a RAM 2020, a graphicscontroller 2075, and a display apparatus 2080 which are mutuallyconnected by a host controller 2082. The computer 1900 also includesinput/output units such as a communication interface 2030, a hard diskdrive 2040, and a DVD-ROM drive 2060 which are connected to the hostcontroller 2082 via an input/output controller 2084. The computer alsoincludes legacy input/output units such as a ROM 2010 and a keyboard2050 which are connected to the input/output controller 2084 through aninput/output chip 2070.

The host controller 2082 connects the RAM 2020 with the CPU 2000 and thegraphics controller 2075 which access the RAM 2020 at a high transferrate. The CPU 2000 operates according to programs stored in the ROM 2010and the RAM 2020, thereby controlling each unit. The graphics controller2075 obtains image data generated by the CPU 2000 on a frame buffer orthe like provided in the RAM 2020, and causes the image data to bedisplayed on the display apparatus 2080. Alternatively, the graphicscontroller 2075 may contain therein a frame buffer or the like forstoring image data generated by the CPU 2000.

The input/output controller 2084 connects the host controller 2082 withthe communication interface 2030, the hard disk drive 2040, and theDVD-ROM drive 2060, which are relatively high-speed input/output units.The communication interface 2030 communicates with other electronicdevices via a network. The hard disk drive 2040 stores programs and dataused by the CPU 2000 within the computer 1900. The DVD-ROM drive 2060reads the programs or the data from the DVD-ROM 2095, and provides thehard disk drive 2040 with the programs or the data via the RAM 2020.

The ROM 2010 and the keyboard 2050 and the input/output chip 2070, whichare relatively low-speed input/output units, are connected to theinput/output controller 2084. The ROM 2010 stores therein a boot programor the like executed by the computer 1900 at the time of activation, aprogram depending on the hardware of the computer 1900. The keyboard2050 inputs text data or commands from a user, and may provide the harddisk drive 2040 with the text data or the commands via the RAM 2020. Theinput/output chip 2070 connects a keyboard 2050 to an input/outputcontroller 2084, and may connect various input/output units via aparallel port, a serial port, a keyboard port, a mouse port, and thelike to the input/output controller 2084.

A program to be stored on the hard disk drive 2040 via the RAM 2020 isprovided by a recording medium as the DVD-ROM 2095, and an IC card. Theprogram is read from the recording medium, installed into the hard diskdrive 2040 within the computer 1900 via the RAM 2020, and executed inthe CPU 2000.

A program that is installed in the computer 1900 and causes the computer1900 to function as an apparatus, such as the region manager, thesubsystems 200 and other element(s) in the system 100 of FIG. 3, FIG.14, FIG. 15, and FIG. 17, includes a determining module. The program ormodule acts on the CPU 2000, to cause the computer 1900 to function as asection, component, element such as determining section 146.

The information processing described in these programs is read into thecomputer 1900, to function as the determining section, which is theresult of cooperation between the program or module and theabove-mentioned various types of hardware resources. Moreover, theapparatus is constituted by realizing the operation or processing ofinformation in accordance with the usage of the computer 1900.

For example when communication is performed between the computer 1900and an external device, the CPU 2000 may execute a communication programloaded onto the RAM 2020, to instruct communication processing to acommunication interface 2030, based on the processing described in thecommunication program. The communication interface 2030, under controlof the CPU 2000, reads the transmission data stored on the transmissionbuffering region provided in the recording medium, such as a RAM 2020, ahard disk drive 2040, or a DVD-ROM 2095, and transmits the readtransmission data to a network, or writes reception data received from anetwork to a reception buffering region or the like provided on therecording medium. In this way, the communication interface 2030 mayexchange transmission/reception data with the recording medium by a DMA(direct memory access) method, or by a configuration that the CPU 2000reads the data from the recording medium or the communication interface2030 of a transfer destination, to write the data into the communicationinterface 2030 or the recording medium of the transfer destination, soas to transfer the transmission/reception data.

In addition, the CPU 2000 may cause all or a necessary portion of thefile of the database to be read into the RAM 2020 such as by DMAtransfer, the file or the database having been stored in an externalrecording medium such as the hard disk drive 2040, the DVD-ROM drive2060 (DVD-ROM 2095) to perform various types of processing onto the dataon the RAM 2020. The CPU 2000 may then write back the processed data tothe external recording medium by means of a DMA transfer method or thelike. In such processing, the RAM 2020 can be considered to temporarilystore the contents of the external recording medium, and so the RAM2020, the external recording apparatus, and the like are collectivelyreferred to as a memory, a storage section, a recording medium, acomputer readable medium, etc. Various types of information, such asvarious types of programs, data, tables, and databases, may be stored inthe recording apparatus, to undergo information processing. Note thatthe CPU 2000 may also use a part of the RAM 2020 to performreading/writing thereto on the cache memory. In such an embodiment, thecache is considered to be contained in the RAM 2020, the memory, and/orthe recording medium unless noted otherwise, since the cache memoryperforms part of the function of the RAM 2020.

The CPU 2000 may perform various types of processing, onto the data readfrom the RAM 2020, which includes various types of operations,processing of information, condition judging, search/replace ofinformation, etc., as described in the present embodiment and designatedby an instruction sequence of programs, and writes the result back tothe RAM 2020. For example, when performing condition judging, the CPU2000 may judge whether each type of variable shown in the presentembodiment is larger, smaller, no smaller than, no greater than, orequal to the other variable or constant, and when the condition judgingresults in the affirmative (or in the negative), the process branches toa different instruction sequence, or calls a sub routine.

In addition, the CPU 2000 may search for information in a file, adatabase, etc., in the recording medium. For example, when a pluralityof entries, each having an attribute value of a first attribute isassociated with an attribute value of a second attribute, are stored ina recording apparatus, the CPU 2000 may search for an entry matching thecondition whose attribute value of the first attribute is designated,from among the plurality of entries stored in the recording medium, andreads the attribute value of the second attribute stored in the entry,thereby obtaining the attribute value of the second attribute associatedwith the first attribute satisfying the predetermined condition.

The above-explained program or module may be stored in an externalrecording medium. Exemplary recording mediums include a DVD-ROM 2095, aswell as an optical recording medium such as a Blu-ray Disk or a CD, amagneto-optic recording medium such as a MO, a tape medium, and asemiconductor memory such as an IC card. In addition, a recording mediumsuch as a hard disk or a RAM provided in a server system connected to adedicated communication network or the Internet can be used as arecording medium, thereby providing the program to the computer 1900 viathe network.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product. The computer program product may include a computerreadable storage medium (or media) having computer readable programinstructions thereon for causing a processor to carry out aspects of thepresent invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, or either source code or object code written in anycombination of one or more programming languages, including an objectoriented programming language such as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, andconventional procedural programming languages, such as the “C”programming language or similar programming languages. The computerreadable program instructions may execute entirely on the user'scomputer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone softwarepackage, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computeror entirely on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario,the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through anytype of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide areanetwork (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer(for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including, for example,programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), orprogrammable logic arrays (PLA) may execute the computer readableprogram instructions by utilizing state information of the computerreadable program instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry,in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the block may occur out of theorder noted in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

While the embodiment(s) of the present invention has (have) beendescribed, the technical scope of the invention is not limited to theabove described embodiment(s). It is apparent to persons skilled in theart that various alterations and improvements can be added to theabove-described embodiment(s). It is also apparent from the scope of theclaims that the embodiments added with such alterations or improvementscan be included in the technical scope of the invention.

The operations, procedures, steps, and stages of each process performedby an apparatus, system, program, and method shown in the claims,embodiments, or diagrams can be performed in any order as long as theorder is not indicated by “prior to,” “before,” or the like and as longas the output from a previous process is not used in a later process.Even if the process flow is described using phrases such as “first” or“next” in the claims, embodiments, or diagrams, it does not necessarilymean that the process must be performed in this order.

As made clear from the above, the embodiments of the present inventioncan be used to realize a system for managing geographic space and mobileobjects thereon.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a mobile object serveroperable to assist with movement of a plurality of mobile objects withina geographic space, wherein the mobile object server includes: amonitoring section operable to monitor movement of the plurality ofmobile objects; a receiving section operable to receive information of afirst mobile object observed by one or more of: a second mobile object,and a monitoring apparatus located on a route on which the plurality ofmobile objects move; an observation instruction section operable tomonitor the first mobile object, wherein monitoring the first mobileobject is based on an observation that the first mobile object does notcommunicate with the mobile object server by judging that the firstmobile object does not match any second mobile object, and whereinmonitoring the first mobile object comprises designating one or moreparameters of a monitoring device of the second mobile object or themonitoring apparatus, wherein the one or more parameters are selectedfrom the group consisting of: sensitivity, number of frames, angle offield, image quality, and monitoring direction; and an assisting sectionoperable to assist with movement of the second mobile object that is anassistance target, using a result obtained by monitoring the firstmobile object, wherein assisting with movement of the second mobileobject comprises issuing commands for automatic driving.
 2. The systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the monitoring section is operable tomonitor the first mobile object using the received information of thefirst mobile object.
 3. The system according to claim 2, wherein themobile object server further includes an observation instructing sectionoperable to instruct another second mobile object positioned within apredetermined range from the first mobile object to observe the firstmobile object.
 4. The system according to claim 2, wherein the receivingsection is operable to receive information of another mobile objectobserved by at least one of the second mobile object and a monitoringapparatus provided on a route on which the mobile objects move, and themonitoring section is operable to begin newly monitoring the othermobile object as the first mobile object in response to the other mobileobject not matching any second mobile object that is an assistancetarget.
 5. The system according to claim 1, wherein the assistingsection is operable to assist with the movement of the second mobileobject using at least one of an outer appearance of the observed firstmobile object, a driving characteristic, a characteristic of apassenger, and a characteristic of a route on which the first mobileobject is positioned.
 6. The system according to claim 1, wherein theassisting section is operable to notify the second mobile object aboutinformation of the first mobile object positioned within a referencerange from the second mobile object.
 7. The system according to claim 1,wherein the mobile object server further includes a history storagesection operable to store history information of the first mobile objectthat is a monitoring target, and the assisting section is operable toassist with the movement of the second mobile object using the historyinformation of the first mobile object stored in the history storagesection.
 8. The system according to claim 1, wherein the mobile objectserver further includes a movement predicting section operable topredict a movement destination of the first mobile object; and theassisting section is operable to assist with the movement of the secondmobile object using a prediction result of the movement predictingsection.
 9. The system according to claim 1, wherein the assistingsection is operable to instruct the second mobile object to be distancedfrom the first mobile object by at least a reference distance.
 10. Thesystem according to claim 1, wherein the assisting section is operableto guide the second mobile object to a route differing from a route onwhich the first mobile object is moving.
 11. The system according toclaim 1, wherein the assisting section is operable to assist withautomatic driving of the second mobile object; and the monitoringsection is operable to monitor the first mobile object that is drivenmanually or the first mobile object that is driven automatically withoutreceiving assistance from the system.
 12. The system according to claim1, further comprising: an event server that is operable to manage eventsoccurring within the geographic space, wherein the monitoring section isoperable to notify the event server about information of the firstmobile object; the event server is operable to register presence of thefirst mobile object as an event; and the assisting section is operableto assist with the movement of the second mobile object based on theevents registered in the event server.
 13. A method for assisting withmovement of a plurality of mobile objects within a geographic space,comprising: monitoring, by a mobile object server, movement of theplurality of mobile objects; receiving, by the mobile object server,information of a first mobile object observed by one or more of: asecond mobile object, and a monitoring apparatus located on a route onwhich the plurality of mobile objects move; determining that the firstmobile object does not communicate with the mobile object server byjudging that the first mobile object does not match any second mobileobject; based on determining that the first mobile object does notcommunicate with the mobile object server, monitoring the first mobileobject, wherein monitoring the first mobile object comprises designatingone or more parameters of a monitoring device of the second mobileobject or the monitoring apparatus, wherein the one or more parametersare selected from the group consisting of: sensitivity, number offrames, angle of field, image quality, and monitoring direction; andassisting with movement of the second mobile object that is anassistance target, using a result obtained by monitoring the firstmobile object, wherein assisting with movement of the second mobileobject comprises issuing commands for automatic driving.
 14. A computerprogram product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storagemedium having program instructions embodied therewith, the programinstructions executable by a computer to cause the computer to perform:monitoring, by a mobile object server, movement of a plurality of mobileobjects; receiving, by a mobile object server, information of a firstmobile object observed by one or more of: a second mobile object, and amonitoring apparatus located on a route on which the plurality of mobileobjects move; determining that the first mobile object does notcommunicate with the mobile object server by judging that the firstmobile object does not match any second mobile object; based ondetermining that the first mobile object does not communicate with themobile object server, monitoring the first mobile object, whereinmonitoring the first mobile object comprises designating one or moreparameters of a monitoring device of the second mobile object or themonitoring apparatus, wherein the one or more parameters are selectedfrom the group consisting of: sensitivity, number of frames, angle offield, image quality, and monitoring direction; and assisting withmovement of the second mobile object that is an assistance target, usinga result obtained by monitoring the first mobile object, whereinassisting with movement of the second mobile object comprises issuingcommands for automatic driving.